Surprising score for a story

[SimonDoom]

I noticed that only 1% to maybe 3% of views translate into rating. So if 1000 people view your story only 10 to 30 rate it. Why the low numbers? its so easy to click on the stars. Comments?

Well, first keep in mind that the majority of people that click on a story--creating a view--don't actually finish the story. It's somewhat speculative, but my guess is that on average no more than 25% of views actually turn into full reads of the story. My subjective guess is that it's even lower than that, but that's sheer speculation.

So that means if you have 100 views, you probably only have 25 reads. If you have a view:vote ratio of 100:1, your actual read:vote ratio is 25:1.

Still, that's high, and indicates a very high rate of not voting.

I think the main reason is people are just lazy or not interested. It's not important to them to vote.

In some cases, readers choose NOT to vote. I sometimes do that. I don't think the story's quite good enough to give it a 5 but I don't want to hurt the author's chances to get a 4.5, so I don't vote at all. I sometimes kick myself for doing that, but I do it anyway. I may try to make up for it by leaving a comment instead.

 

[ElectricBlue]

In some cases, readers choose NOT to vote. I sometimes do that. I don't think the story's quite good enough to give it a 5 but I don't want to hurt the author's chances to get a 4.5, so I don't vote at all. I sometimes kick myself for doing that, but I do it anyway. I may try to make up for it by leaving a comment instead.

A comment, in my mind, is worth far, far more than a Vote.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I noticed that only 1% to maybe 3% of views translate into rating. So if 1000 people view your story only 10 to 30 rate it. Why the low numbers? its so easy to click on the stars. Comments?

It's not clear how many of those views translate to people who actually read the story all the way through, vs. people who got partway and then quit. There will also be some people who reread (multiple views) but only vote once.

Some might be concerned about privacy; voting can leave a bit more of a trail than just reading stuff.

Mostly though, I suspect a lot of it is just "didn't bother", even though it's not a lot of effort.

 

[CasualK9]

I second the value of comments to ratings. I've published my first story arc, and I would love to see more constructive comments. It's also so annoying to see a string of 5 ratings come through, and as soon as it goes "hot" some troll has to throw a 1 on it....

 

[HopelessDreams]

I also suspect that many people who don't use Literotica regularly and don't have accounts here may not realize that they're able to cast votes without being logged in.

 

[thomas1965]

I noticed that only 1% to maybe 3% of views translate into rating. So if 1000 people view your story only 10 to 30 rate it. Why the low numbers? its so easy to click on the stars. Comments?

Maybe the reader didn't like it and stopped reading after 2 paras and just couldn't bother to scroll down or go to the final page.
Maybe the reader was too nice to give a low vote. I do this quite often. Most of the people who publish here are non-professional so I don't want to be too harsh on them. If I can't give a high vote, I don't vote.

 

[CasualK9]

Right - don't like it, don't vote!

 

[dmallord]

I would favor comments as well, but I have so few ... so I tend to view the ratings as a natural point of enjoyment. My stats show about 1.9% of the viewers take time to vote. It's a bit like going fishing I suppose. You talk more about the one that got away than the one you threw back.

 

[MillieDynamite]

A comment, in my mind, is worth far, far more than a Vote.

Yeah, I got a comment yesterday on my story that was posted yesterday, How to Mend a Broken Heart,

"Really loved the vivid imagery and particularly enjoyed how the pacing becomes more frenetic the closer Adrienne gets to orgasm. Great work!"

This made my day. The score isn't hitting 4.5, it's at 4.25 with only 20 votes. I'm pretty sure it will languish between 4.0 and 4.44 and not hit or stay at a 4.5. Such is my lot in life.

 

[AlexBailey]

I read a lot of stories that I don't comment or vote on. Sometimes I finish reading and let my finger hover over the stars for a moment.

In most cases, if I've made it to the end of a story it means I liked it and as long as it was not grammatically poor quality or distracting in some other way I'll drop a 5 on it - it's the least I can do to thank the author for some entertainment.

In cases where I'm not inspired to and instant five, honestly, I often check what score they already have. I don't want to give a four star to someone who is on the cusp of a HOT (4.5 rating) only because a good story teller didn't proofread well. At that point it's case by case whether I vote or not. If I liked the story typos and all but it's not doing well, I'll boost it.

I want writers to feel appreciated and inspired, especially ones who are helpful to other authors and especially ones who write for my kinks.

In some cases I've commented without voting simply because I couldn't decide between 4 and 5. I suspect that a 4.5 would be a very common vote if you could make that choice.

 

[Voboy]

I also suspect that many people who don't use Literotica regularly and don't have accounts here may not realize that they're able to cast votes without being logged in.

I read here for over 15 years before I started posting, and this was precisely my thought process. I didn't vote because I assumed you needed to be a member to vote.